Disaster Hits the Angels

There were a few reasons for the Angels to be optimistic, tempered by a lot of cautious words from Mike Scioscia, their glass-is-half-full manager.

By the end of Wednesday’s game, caution seemed to be the best path to follow.

Angel ace Jarrod Washburn didn’t get past the third inning in a 15-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox in front of 18,864 at Edison Field.

The bullpen had the lowest earned-run average in the majors. Four Angel relievers gave up nine runs.

The Angel hitters seemed to be waking from a season-long slumber earlier this week, but they slipped back into hibernation, getting only four hits off White Sox starter Mark Buehrle.

Add to that three errors, one by reliever Mike Holtz that led to four unearned runs in the seventh.

And the reason for optimism? They can hope this was merely a glitch.

“We’re not going to dig too deep into this game,” Scioscia said. “That was just an old fashion butt whipping. We didn’t do much right on the mound. We didn’t get much from our hitters. We’re going to turn the page on this one.”

The good news is the Angels are still in the race, 51/2 games behind Boston for the wild-card spot. The not-so-good news is they are also five behind Oakland and 41/2 behind Minnesota, with Chicago creeping up from behind. The White Sox are two games behind the Angels.

“The challenge is still ahead of us,” Scioscia said. “We’re not sitting here and thinking we’ve accomplished anything.”

The closest thing to an accomplishment Wednesday was Darin Erstad’s highlight-reel catch in the fourth inning. Erstad sprinted to his left and made a diving catch to rob Magglio Ordonez of an extra-base hit.

Everything else was a low-light.

The White Sox hit four home runs, two by Ordonez. The 15 runs were the most given up by the Angels this season.

Buehrle puzzled Angel hitters all night. He began the game with the lowest earned-run average in the American League and Angel hitters, including Troy Glaus, hardly touched him. In five previous at-bats against Buehrle, Glaus had four hits, including three home runs. He was hitless in three at-bats Wednesday.

The Angels got their lone run in the first. David Eckstein and Erstad opened the inning with singles. After Glaus forced Erstad, Garret Anderson hit a chopper back to Buehrle, who took the sure out at first, allowing Eckstein to score.

“I guess you’ve got to get it all out of your system once in a while,” Erstad said. “We’ve been playing so well lately. We just have to forget about this one.”

Washburn would like to blot this one from his memory.

He had won eight consecutive games before losing, 4-2, to the New York Yankees on Friday.

But Washburn went only three innings Wednesday, his shortest outing of the season. He gave up six earned runs, the most he has allowed all season.

“That was terrible from the get-go,” Washburn said. “I let the team down. The bullpen had to work some innings. It was not good.”

And Washburn could pinpoint the moment it went bad.

Ray Durham smashed his first pitch down the left-field line for a double.

“After that pitch, everything went bad,” Washburn said.

Washburn walked Carlos Lee and, after Ordonez flew out, Jose Canseco sliced a single to right, scoring Durham. Paul Konerko followed with a double for a 2-0 lead.

The White Sox got four more in the third, three when Sandy Alomar launched Washburn’s 0-and-1 pitch well beyond the center-field fence. Alomar injured his right knee and had to hobble around the bases, prolonging Washburn’s agony.

“I’m more disappointed than anything,” Washburn said. “Everybody has a bad start. You can’t dwell on it or let it affect you.”